Epson XP-950 Colour Printer Review – Outstanding photo quality prints

Home printers are much of a muchness these days, performing basic tasks like printing out recipes or school assignments or instructions.  It’s not often you see people doing much more than web page printing or word processor documents.  What if I told you the Epson Xp-950 would make you want to print every great photo you’ve ever taken?  I’m crazy right?

I’d hate to think how many photos we have – I have a digital catalogue going back to 1999, and in this smartphone era we take more snaps than ever before.

Sharing them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, it’s a great way to connect and share – but we rarely even consider printing them out.  Why?  Convenience.  Popping down to Harvey Norman or the local Kodak shop is a pain.

This week I’ve been putting the Epson XP-950 through its paces – and loving every minute of it.

Epson supplied me with several boxes of ink cartridges and heaps of photo paper.  My mission – use it all.

I’ve struggled to get through the ink – this thing is somehow stupidly efficient with its ink usage.  When you separate the cartridges out into six colours you really can start to use just what you need.

Having now printed some 20 A3 full photos, 50-10 A3 and a few 5×7″ – I’ve replaced just two of those colour cartridges. And to make life even easier, the printer will prompt you to replace a certain colour before it prints and runs out half way.  That’s what you need.

Setup of the XP-950 was easy – getting it going, took some time.  Turns out it’s taking very clear instructions from the computer about where it wants to get the paper from.  So once I set up the rear feeder tray it would simply ask me to insert a single sheet of paper and off it went.

On an A4 sheet, at a low quality setting – yet a good quality output, the print would come out in around 11 seconds.

A3 prints at high quality certainly took their time – but the results were worth it – genuinely.

My father-in-law is more than just a hobby photographer, he’s a bloody good snapper – so I challenged him to bring round some files for us to print.

He did, they looked great – really great.

After taking the prints home – he compared them to a set of A3 photos he’d ordered previously from a printer in Melbourne.  The quality was as good.  having paid around $11.50 for each print (Printing and Delivery) there’s no doubt in my mind this was a cheaper option per print.  For a printer in the $400 range you’re going to want to make some quantity before there’s a genuine return but without doubt there would be satisfaction from any photo buff with the Epson Xp-950 – these printer are without question the best home printed photos I’ve ever seen.

In fact, it has made me realise how reliant I am on my smartphone for photos.  Smartphone photos when printed in A3 size really do require you to stand back a bit – or you’ll see how bad they are.  Even from high-end new release cameras the quality of finer details up close was poor to say the least – but, it is a phone right?

Use a solid Digital Camera, in particular a DSLR and you’ll be blown away.

At 5×7″ and even A4 size smartphone pics are more than acceptable, but to make the most of your XP-950 – be sure to get a great camera.

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